


The Story Of Sigmund

by ShadowInEden (EffingEden)



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-28
Updated: 2010-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 10:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/136344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EffingEden/pseuds/ShadowInEden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little Anita goes to the zoo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story Of Sigmund

The day was beautiful, with the early autumn morning sun shining through the French patio and the big bay windows. It was almost like living in a glass box, we could see the outside that much. Mommy loved nature and the wild, untameable weather. Our garden had a big flat carpet of grass that was perfect for summer picnics, autumn romps in the fallen leaves, snowman making and drawing big pictures in the frost. Around the edges were big friendly trees that were so wide I couldn’t rap my arms around them. Their roots knotted above the earth in magical shapes. Mommy had told me the fairies lived in the higher branches, and if you listened real hard you could hear them laughing.

It was Saturday, and that meant it was the day when I played with Mommy. She said she would take me to a new place, just us two for a special treat. I was deliriously happy – I had just had my first week at school and it was all bright colours and games and new friends. Of course, there were bad things, too. A fat, red-faced boy had knocked me down at recess, because I wouldn’t give him my cookies. The boy then grabbed the bag and pulled, but I hung on tight, and it had ripped, spilling the cookies into the dust. Angry, I had stood up and gave the boy a push. He gave me a black eye.

The teacher watching decided to step in and took the boy and me to the principal’s office. My eye hurt a lot, and I couldn’t see through it. The boy was shaking, and his fear prickled my skin as we waited in the waiting area. Then the door had opened and the principal crooked his finger at the boy. They went into the office and I heard a lot of shouting. The door had opened and the boy stumbled out and sat back down. The principal told Ms. Sims, the secretary, to phone his parents to come get him and to write him a suspension slip for the rest of the week. He had then come over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, and asked if I wanted to come talk with him. His voice was softer, quieter, like I would break if he spoke any louder. I shook my head and said I wanted Mommy. He sighed, but told Ms. Sims to contact my family, too. Daddy went white when he came to pick me up, then went purple. He shouted a lot at the principal before taking me home. When Mommy came home her face changed into a frightening monster snarl that wasn’t pretend, and her voice was even more scary as she spat venom down the phone to the school. I wouldn’t have gone in the next day, but I wanted to play with my new friends.

Now my eye had a greeny brown tinge to the edges, and it stung if I poked it or I scrunched my eyes. I didn’t care, but my friends were scared of it, of me. Not a lot, but they stopped playing when I tried to join in. I didn’t care. I have Mommy. I have Daddy, too, but Mommy plays the best games, like tag in the rain, vampire hunt and blind-mans-bluff. We played those games on Saturdays, because Saturday was our day.

I grabbed my shoes and trotted into the kitchen. Mommy was waiting for the coffee to settle before she could press the plunger so-so-slowly down. Daddy was sneaking up behind her, and Mommy knew. She had that secret smile. Daddy pounced on her, wrapping his arms around her and said, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Mommy turned around in his arms and said, “You’ll have to stop calling me the one and only. My ‘Nina will be a knockout in a few years.”

Daddy was nibbling Mommy’s neck, and I heard him say, “Both my girls are gorgeous.”

Mommy had seen me over Daddy’s shoulder, winked at me, then turned back to the counter. “Want breakfast, ‘Nina?”

Daddy let go of Mommy with a sigh then went back to the table to read his newspaper, ruffling my hair as he went past. I wasn’t hungry, so I shook my head, my curls bouncing everywhere. Mommy laughed, but Daddy said in a stern voice, “If you don’t eat you won’t grow big and strong.”

Mommy stopped laughing so fast it was like someone switched it off. “What’s so good about being big? I like being small.”

“Small is more funner!” I answered, “I want to be just like Mommy when I grow up.”

Mommy gave me a bright, wonderful smile, swooping down one me, picking me up, spinning me about. I shrieked, and she laughed and the sun filled her hair and face, making her hair sparkle with red shadows. She put me down again, and we were both giggling with the dizzy giddiness. Breathless with laughing, Mommy said, “Lets get our shoes on, ‘Nina, and we can go.”

I held up my trainers and said, matter-of-factly, “I have my shoes!”

Mommy bit her lip as she smiled – it was her ‘silly-me’ face – and she put her hands under my arms again, and picked me up, sitting me on the table. I kicked my feet, and Mommy couldn’t catch them when she tried.

We were in the car in less than ten minutes, and Mommy put on the radio. She sang the songs, and I tried to join in, but I didn’t know all the words. I made Mommy laugh when I made up new words to fill in the gaps.

Soon, Mommy stopped the car – we were there. I undid my seatbelt and opened my door, sliding out and look at the other cars all around. Mommy slammed her door and came around to close mine, too. “Where are we?” I asked, not recognising it.

Mommy smiled and picked me up, balancing me on her hip. “The zoo,” she told me with a bright smile. I squealed in excitement – the zoo! We hadn’t been before – Daddy didn’t like seeing animals, even on TV. But it was Saturday – a Mommy day, not a Daddy day.

We went in – there were lots of people making lots of noise, but we didn’t take any notice. There were animals to see.

We saw elephants and chimps, kangaroos and pelicans, a tiger so close to the bars I could have touched its fur. There were seals and lemurs, zebras and giraffes. They were wonderful, and Mommy had to pull me away from each one to move to the next.

Last of all, we saw the penguins.

There was a glass section in the wall of their tank, letting us see them as they swam. Only, they didn’t swim – they flew. They were hypnotic in their grace, and Mommy didn’t say anything as we watched. We stood there for a long time, just watching them play. One came really close, looking back at us before darting away again.

After that, we went to the gift shop. I was tired and hungry, but didn’t say anything, fiddling with a strange bead toy, waiting for Mommy to stop looking at the cards. I slid a blue bead back and forth, making it clack against the other large beads beside it. Mommy came and scooped me up. “Hey. Do you want that?” she asked, looking at the toy with a frown. She didn’t like it, I could tell.

“No,” I said. “Are we going now?”

She nodded, but she didn’t move. “I just want to get something.” She walked to the desk, and got the till worker’s attention. “Excuse me, I’d like to adopt a penguin for a year.”

The till worker nodded, and pulled a clipboard from under the desk. “We have Kingoo, Melissa and Sigmund. Would you like to have them as penpal, or a free soft toy?”

Mommy looked down at me, and asked, “Who should we adopt, ‘Nina?”

I blinked. “We’re getting a penguin?” I asked excitedly.

“They have to stay in the Zoo, but everyone will know that one of them is yours. There’ll be a plaque, saying so. I saw them by the penguin window.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip. Had the one looking at us been Kingoo, Melissa or Sigmund? I was sure it was a boy penguin, and I don’t think something with a name ‘Kingoo’ would have looked so happy. “Sigmund,” I told them.

“And we’ll have the soft toy.” Mommy handed the man her credit card, and after a few beeps he handed it back to her.

He wrote down my name on a piece of paper, and said, “We’ll send you the adoption certificate and we should get the plaque up in a week or so. And here is your penguin.” He ducked behind the desk again, coming up with a big black and white penguin. I reached for it, my hands sinking in the thick plush. I rubbed my cheek against it. He was perfect.

“Thank-you,” Mommy said, and she turned and carried us out, back to the car. I fell asleep as she was buckling me in, still clutching my penguin.


End file.
